Revelations....
All right, I read a book called The Secret. I understand the snark it gets because it paints everybody with the same brush, but you know what I realized? While it's far too simplistic to be effective for everyone, the basic principle can be.
The principle is to find power somewhere and use that power to better yourself. It is to discover what you need, ultimately, or make what you want what you need, and then use the power you pull from somewhere to achieve it. I believe in it - from the alchemist's perspective - because it underlines what I know about magic...
But the one thing that makes it so damned problematic is that it puts the ball in the individual's hands, regardless of if the individual is strong enough to do it on their own. Or want to, or can get over the anxiety of "It's not working how it says it should, I must be doing something wrong!"
Which would be me, by the way. I wonder constantly if I am doing something wrong. So that sort of thinking, when it doesn't work, does a lot of damage to me. It has, in fact.
.... I forgot where I was going with this, quite, but thinking on the subject is what made me realize that which is the point of this blog: If I am to help people in the duties I feel I must fulfill, the very first thing I need to discover is if there is something they have to fall back on, and then find the best way to direct them to it if they don't.
Aaron's mom, Suzi, walks every day. Some days it really hurts her legs while it's fine others. We've both tried to tell her that if she thinks that the pain is normal and she can't be rid of it, she won't be, and this has not yet worked. At first I thought it was just that she's stubborn and hard to win over, but now I'm seeing that perhaps I should choose a different angle of approach: perhaps, say, asking her if she believes God will take the pain away if she asks him would help.
And through all this thinking, I realized exactly why Kyle's great for me for right now. Since we've been dating, I notice that my empathy doesn't work on him. If I discover he's unhappy or what, I do so through observing his actions, not anything else. I can't glean from him more than what he tells me - which was at first discomforting and now just lends me to usually pleasant surprises on a regular basis. We've promised each other open communication, and because of my nature I currently trust he will not violate that.
But there's something else I've started to notice. When I am around him, my empathy doesn't work. Not in the sense that the wires are jammed or anything, more in the sense that the signals are dulled to the point that I don't notice them. And it's helping me to rest, it's such a great relief! Oh sure, if it's strong enough I'll get a piece of it several moments later heavily diluted, but other than that all's quiet, and I like it that way.
Hasn't changed the fact I can pick out all his sensitive and painy spots; but I attribute that to MT training - when you're taught to study people's body mechanics when they move to better pinpoint where they're in pain, you tend to absorb that to the point of doing so subconsciously. If you're me, anyway. Or like me.
The principle is to find power somewhere and use that power to better yourself. It is to discover what you need, ultimately, or make what you want what you need, and then use the power you pull from somewhere to achieve it. I believe in it - from the alchemist's perspective - because it underlines what I know about magic...
But the one thing that makes it so damned problematic is that it puts the ball in the individual's hands, regardless of if the individual is strong enough to do it on their own. Or want to, or can get over the anxiety of "It's not working how it says it should, I must be doing something wrong!"
Which would be me, by the way. I wonder constantly if I am doing something wrong. So that sort of thinking, when it doesn't work, does a lot of damage to me. It has, in fact.
.... I forgot where I was going with this, quite, but thinking on the subject is what made me realize that which is the point of this blog: If I am to help people in the duties I feel I must fulfill, the very first thing I need to discover is if there is something they have to fall back on, and then find the best way to direct them to it if they don't.
Aaron's mom, Suzi, walks every day. Some days it really hurts her legs while it's fine others. We've both tried to tell her that if she thinks that the pain is normal and she can't be rid of it, she won't be, and this has not yet worked. At first I thought it was just that she's stubborn and hard to win over, but now I'm seeing that perhaps I should choose a different angle of approach: perhaps, say, asking her if she believes God will take the pain away if she asks him would help.
And through all this thinking, I realized exactly why Kyle's great for me for right now. Since we've been dating, I notice that my empathy doesn't work on him. If I discover he's unhappy or what, I do so through observing his actions, not anything else. I can't glean from him more than what he tells me - which was at first discomforting and now just lends me to usually pleasant surprises on a regular basis. We've promised each other open communication, and because of my nature I currently trust he will not violate that.
But there's something else I've started to notice. When I am around him, my empathy doesn't work. Not in the sense that the wires are jammed or anything, more in the sense that the signals are dulled to the point that I don't notice them. And it's helping me to rest, it's such a great relief! Oh sure, if it's strong enough I'll get a piece of it several moments later heavily diluted, but other than that all's quiet, and I like it that way.
Hasn't changed the fact I can pick out all his sensitive and painy spots; but I attribute that to MT training - when you're taught to study people's body mechanics when they move to better pinpoint where they're in pain, you tend to absorb that to the point of doing so subconsciously. If you're me, anyway. Or like me.